Leicester's clergy have brightened up their sermons with a stand-up comedian drafted in to make members feel more at ease.

A workshop was held on Thursday at Leicester's Comedy Festival to try to encourage people in the church to better engage with their audiences.

Comedian Andy Kind from Stoke-on-Trent will tackle body language, voice modulation and overall performance skills, aimed at building confidence.

Mr Kind said the new skills would help vicars communicate with congregations.

"Christianity is not seen as accessible by the majority of people," said Mr Kind.

"If we want the Gospel message to engage with people's spirituality, then we must first learn to better engage with them in human terms.

"Having faith in God can be a challenging affair but having faith in yourself is probably even harder."

Liz Jepson, Leicester diocesan communications officer, said the course was proving very popular with members of the clergy.

"We want our vicars to inspire and entertain and the fact they want to learn how to do this is very encouraging," she said.